Against

We've got to confess, the unveiling of the Asus Zenbook has spoiled us. The beautifully slender yet sturdy body is a marvel, yet it still makes room for some powerful components for (hopefully) excellent performance.

This makes reviewing the Asus U46SV - another new laptop from the Taiwanese giant - a rather tricky business. It's not that this laptop is ugly or anything. But imagine embarking on an illicit one-night affair with Megan Fox, then hooking up with Hilary Duff. She's probably a very nice girl and not bad looking, but you'd be thinking of Megan during sexy time.

Let's begin by saying we really liked the Asus U36JC, a powerful and well-built ultra-portable laptop. The Asus U46SV is a spiritual successor to the U36JC, but we were surprised by how chunky and heavy it felt when we pulled it free of its box.

The chassis is 38mm thick, which is rather bulky for a laptop of this size. It also weighs 2.3kg - a lot more than the Asus U36JC's featherweight build. The U46SV won't exactly weigh you down if you're carrying it in a bag all day, but we expected something a lot slimmer and lighter. Compared to the Sony VAIO S Series, this is a boxy beast.

We also aren't massive fans of the Asus U46SV's aluminium build, which feels strangely like plastic. The lid is especially weak, and bends in the centre under light pressure. Both the lid and the palm rests feature a circular pattern that looks cheap compared to the beautiful finish of the Zenbook.

Still, we can't complain when it comes to the keyboard. The popular chiclet, or 'isolation-style', design means that keys are well spaced, which makes it perfect for touch-typists. The keys are a great size, with no tiny Shift or Return keys to spoil the party. Even the arrow keys get plenty of space, which is a welcome relief.

We also liked the smooth touchpad, which finds plenty of space to spread out across the Asus U46SV's palm rests. The dedicated mouse buttons aren't set too firmly and are a haven for grimy fingerprints, but they're hugely preferable to those pesky integrated buttons.

The ultra-thin and light design fits more technology into a compact form factor that's easy to carry and use. The slim bezel means a bigger screen can be attached to a more slender chassis, while the spun aluminum finish creates a very unique look. ASUS has also engineered a special hinge-forward design for the new U46SV, allowing for a wider opening angle and easier viewing even in the confines of an aircraft seat.

Powerful 2nd generation Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce GPU

Standard voltage, uncompromising Core i3 and i5 CPUs easily handle more intense multitasking, higher definition and smoother multimedia, plus faster productivity for a portable PC you can rely on in any application. The discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M GPU boosts visual output with native DirectX 11 compatibility for the latest in graphics, so that everything from HD movies to high-end PC games runs smoothly and in incredible detail.